The deputy commissioner of the Kolkata police (South) asked a journalist for her "character certificate", according to a video posted on social media today. Top cop Akash Magharia also asked the journalist for her vaccination certificate, told her to go to the police station to get it checked, and asked what she would be reporting on.
"কোথায় কি খবর করবেন ?" asks @KolkataPolice DC South to journalists. But that really is none of your business sir.
— ইন্দ্রজিৎ | Indrajit (@iindrojit) September 22, 2021
Hope @CPKolkata takes note. pic.twitter.com/w4vY4ZkCnd
According to a PTI journalist, the interaction took place on Kolkata's Harish Chatterjee Street, where chief minister Mamata Banerjee lives. It's a high security area and the BJP had claimed today that the party was not being allowed to campaign there.
The journalist from the video, who is unidentified, had asked Magharia a question. He refused to answer. When asked if he was refusing to answer the media, he demanded the journalist's "character certificate" and "vaccination certificate".
The journalist responded that she had a copy of the certificates on her phone and would show them to him. Magharia then asked what she would report on, and told her to go to a police station to get her certificates checked.
Several journalists tweeted that Magharia's comments were "shameful" and "unexpected".
Also Read: Busting fake news: The perils of police as fact-checker
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